Thorpe, H.(2009). Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America. New York: Simon & Schuster
This is a book about four Mexican / American girls who live in Denver. Two of them have social security numbers and are legal United States Citizens and two of them are illegal. They are all good friends and are serious students. Helen Thorpe (the author) is the wife of the Mayor of Denver. During his time in office, immigration is a hot topic. Helen Thorpe gets to know the four girls and follows their lives through High School and College. In many ways they have things in common and can relate to each other. The main difference in their lives connects to their citizenship status. Marisela and Yadira are not legal citizens and have not been able to return to Mexico to visit since they crossed the border. Elissa and Clara are legal citizens. All four of the girls want to go to college and end up figuring out how to do so although it was a much more difficult and complicated experience for the illegal girls. The families of the four girls all struggle with finances and adjusting to American culture which is what keeps them closely connected.
The groups being depicted in this book are both illegal and legal immigrants. "Just Like Us" helps the reader relate to what it is like for students to come from another country and go to school in the United States.
This book caused me to think about what it is like for students who do not have everything set up for them. The girls in this book had to pave their own way. Since they did not have financial help or academic support from their families, they had to find their way on their own. Yadira is one of the girls in the book whose mom gets deported back to Mexico while she is in High School. She ends up staying with friends in High School and then supporting her siblings during college. This is not a typical experience for many high school students. It made me think about how difficult it is for so many students to make it through school with all that they have going on in their home life. I also gained insight as to what it is like to have to adapt and adjust to a different culture and language for these students. After reading this book, I have a better sense of how I could support international students in the classroom.
My cultural awareness was enhanced by realizing how everyone has their story. Sometimes it is obvious and sometimes it is not. In this story, it would have been apparent that these students came from Mexican families. What wouldn't have been apparent was how difficult it was for the students parents to understand the American way of life, how they had to work full time jobs out side of school and how much the stress of not having money or citizenship would affect them every day. My cultural awareness was also enhanced by realizing how important it is to not make assumptions when addressing students. Many of the teachers in this book would assume that the girls had citizenship and it put them in a very awkward situation when this happened. As a teacher, I will need to be very sensitive and aware of how important it is not to make assumptions.
New insights that I have relate to what it is like for students to make their way through school without having their immediate family with them. I have also thought a lot more about the immigration issue and how it affects so many students and families in our country. It is a complicated and difficult issue and there are so many sides and perspectives to consider. Something that was addressed in the book was that all students in Denver were entitled to an education regardless of their immigration status. I believe that this is the right thing to do. Children and young adults are caught in the middle of this.
Some of the text was relevant to my teaching practice goals and the classroom community. Since the girls were in high school, they had many different teachers. The ones that stood out had gone out of their way to support the girls. A teacher they had in high school even gave Yadira a place to stay when her mom was deported. The classrooms that the girls responded to the most seemed to have teachers who believed in them and accepted them regardless of their immigration status. This is how I would want to be as a teacher.
Yes, I recommend this book to others. It was eye-opening and thought provoking. It is a realistic portrayal of what many students in American schools are experiencing.
If I were teaching High School, I would use this book with students. It is too advanced to use with Elementary Students and could possibly be used with Middle School. It could get some interesting class discussions started and could be used to help students understand what other students may be experiencing.
Thorpe, H.(2009). Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America. New York: Simon & Schuster
This is a book about four Mexican / American girls who live in Denver. Two of them have social security numbers and are legal United States Citizens and two of them are illegal. They are all good friends and are serious students. Helen Thorpe (the author) is the wife of the Mayor of Denver. During his time in office, immigration is a hot topic. Helen Thorpe gets to know the four girls and follows their lives through High School and College. In many ways they have things in common and can relate to each other. The main difference in their lives connects to their citizenship status. Marisela and Yadira are not legal citizens and have not been able to return to Mexico to visit since they crossed the border. Elissa and Clara are legal citizens. All four of the girls want to go to college and end up figuring out how to do so although it was a much more difficult and complicated experience for the illegal girls. The families of the four girls all struggle with finances and adjusting to American culture which is what keeps them closely connected.
The groups being depicted in this book are both illegal and legal immigrants. "Just Like Us" helps the reader relate to what it is like for students to come from another country and go to school in the United States.
This book caused me to think about what it is like for students who do not have everything set up for them. The girls in this book had to pave their own way. Since they did not have financial help or academic support from their families, they had to find their way on their own. Yadira is one of the girls in the book whose mom gets deported back to Mexico while she is in High School. She ends up staying with friends in High School and then supporting her siblings during college. This is not a typical experience for many high school students. It made me think about how difficult it is for so many students to make it through school with all that they have going on in their home life. I also gained insight as to what it is like to have to adapt and adjust to a different culture and language for these students. After reading this book, I have a better sense of how I could support international students in the classroom.
My cultural awareness was enhanced by realizing how everyone has their story. Sometimes it is obvious and sometimes it is not. In this story, it would have been apparent that these students came from Mexican families. What wouldn't have been apparent was how difficult it was for the students parents to understand the American way of life, how they had to work full time jobs out side of school and how much the stress of not having money or citizenship would affect them every day. My cultural awareness was also enhanced by realizing how important it is to not make assumptions when addressing students. Many of the teachers in this book would assume that the girls had citizenship and it put them in a very awkward situation when this happened. As a teacher, I will need to be very sensitive and aware of how important it is not to make assumptions.
New insights that I have relate to what it is like for students to make their way through school without having their immediate family with them. I have also thought a lot more about the immigration issue and how it affects so many students and families in our country. It is a complicated and difficult issue and there are so many sides and perspectives to consider. Something that was addressed in the book was that all students in Denver were entitled to an education regardless of their immigration status. I believe that this is the right thing to do. Children and young adults are caught in the middle of this.
Some of the text was relevant to my teaching practice goals and the classroom community. Since the girls were in high school, they had many different teachers. The ones that stood out had gone out of their way to support the girls. A teacher they had in high school even gave Yadira a place to stay when her mom was deported. The classrooms that the girls responded to the most seemed to have teachers who believed in them and accepted them regardless of their immigration status. This is how I would want to be as a teacher.
Yes, I recommend this book to others. It was eye-opening and thought provoking. It is a realistic portrayal of what many students in American schools are experiencing.
If I were teaching High School, I would use this book with students. It is too advanced to use with Elementary Students and could possibly be used with Middle School. It could get some interesting class discussions started and could be used to help students understand what other students may be experiencing.